A Novice Trial 2025 – Hellidon Lakes Northamptonshire
*16 yr old Bob Rutherford Scholarship winner Miles Fieldhouse captures victory to make glorious start to his campaign
*Watson brothers second and Canadian Paul Papaioannou third, all on their first ever rallies
*Clean sweep of podium for HERO-ERA Arrive & Drive cars
After five hours of rally tuition, 60 miles of road practice, then 100 + miles and four regularities with three tests in glorious weather, Miles Fieldhouse (16) from Ambleside emerged victorious in A Novice Trial, navigating as his father expertly drove their MGB. Miles won the 2025 Bob Rutherford Historic Rally Scholarship for Young Navigators, which is supported by Motorsport UK Academy courses, being awarded four fully-funded HERO-ERA rallies to compete in. A Novice Trial is the first in his programme, and Miles smashed it, dropping just seven seconds in penalties all day which also won him the Clockwatchers Award for best navigator of the day, whilst with his father Nick won the Test Pilot Award for the fastest driver over all the tests. The father and son crew of Nick and Miles Fieldhouse who won by 20 seconds, were driving a HERO-ERA Arrive & Drive MGB as part of Mile’s scholarship prize, whilst the second and third place cars overall were also from the Arrive & Drive fleet, providing a clean sweep of the podium for the company.
Brothers Rikki and Russell Watson finished in second place, 20 seconds behind the winners, in their A & D BMW 1602 after a great first-time rally performance over the whole rally weekend.
Having shown strongly during the practice regularities on Saturday and listening intently as Clerk of the Course Andy Pullan gave his tips and expert rally navigation tuition, Canadian Chris Papaioannou kept up the keen performance on Sunday when it counted, with third place overall. He was driven by the experienced Tim Sawyer in the A & D VW Golf GTi.
Also showing real intent and understanding were Team China. Finishing a superb fourth overall and winning Class 3 in their Rover Mini were Yao Pan and Xinran Liu, Yao later expressing interest in competing in the Peking to Paris Motor Challenge in the future. Their Team China team – mates, Lei Zhu and Zihan Zhu finished 25th overall and 4th in class in their Mercedes 190.
Two other crews at base camp, aiming to compete in the Peking to Paris Motor Challenge 2028, the Everest of historic rallying, finished their first ever regularity rallies on A Novice Trial.
Americans John Braun and Jeffrey Steinle finished just outside the top ten in 11th place in the A & D Triumph TR4, a great start to their own P2P campaign as they will begin to prepare their own Simon Templar ‘The Saint’ style Volvo 1800S for the famous endurance rally.
Racer turned rally man Ryck Turner with partner Angie Barber, both on their very first historic rally in pursuit of their joint goals of the Peking to Paris in 2028, were happy with their seventh in class finish in their 1928 Bentley 4½. “The journey starts here, and this was a good beginning” said Ryck.
Congratulations are in order for 9th place finishers, Lorraine and Neil McConachie, also vintage Bentley racers, as they were got badly lost during the practice events on Saturday but turned it around for a top ten finish on A Novice Trial in their Mazda MX5 on Sunday.
Equally, the Lanfranchi crew of father David and daughter Mimi were very competitive, finishing in tenth pace overall but also winning Class 1 in their Mini Cooper S. David’s uncle was the racing driver Tony Lanfranchi who drove Grand Prix cars in the 1960s. David and Mimi are considering more rallying in the future.
1st overall, Miles and Nick Fieldhouse, Arrive & Drive MGB
Miles “I don't know quite how I feel, it's amazing, it’s a really good result, I am just so happy and I really enjoyed it, it has been a great start to the campaign, I am really looking forward to the rest of it. I can’t wait for the next one. Dad got the Test Pilot Award so we can’t fault him for his driving either, can we?”
Nick; “Miles was just super impressive, really accurate. We learned a lot through the day as well with good teamwork. We had a good relationship in the car, but it was impressive, he has set the bar high though! The Arrive & Drive MGB didn't miss a beat, it was lovely. It was just really nice to drive and actually on the tests, I was surprised just how good it was.”
2nd overall, Rikki and Russell Watson, Arrive & Drive BMW 1602
Rikki; “When we arrived on Friday and started the course, I didn’t think in a million years we could finish on the podium. I thought I was going to be happy if we were mid table and we were still speaking at the end of it. So this is beyond any expectations we had. I think we had a lot of luck, plus I think we realised we probably do communicate better than we first thought.”
Russell; “It was good, a lot of fun. The car was dead nice to drive, just easy and smooth, quite sedate. But I think that helped us keep track of time and what we're doing and to get around well, so, I've had a really good time. My brother said do you want to do this? I said, okay but I've given it hardly any more thought. But now I know what he's talking about and it was good.”
Rikki, “I'll definitely think we need a car to do more events. That's the next thing, we're going to go car shopping, we can’t keep paying Mark at Arrive & Drive, as good as they are!”
3rd overall, Chris Papaioannou and Tim Sawyer, Arrive & Drive VW Golf GTi
Chris; “It really is amazing for my first rally, amazing, and on a sunny day, which I think is more remarkable! It is 100% now that I will be back for more rallies soon. Tim is the best teacher, mentor all the little tips and tricks, so awesome.”
Tim; “You wouldn't think it was first ever rally, he didn't miss a beat. If I asked a question, he had the answer. He didn't miss a beat on any junction, left or right and on the tests, he was a brilliant navigator. So we've got a new star on our hands.”
John Braun and Jeffrey Steinle, Arrive & Drive Triumph TR4, 11th O/a 2nd Class
Jeff; “I thought it was terrific, it was super fun. We ran into one tractor and a farmer who was blocking the road for a while, it was a classic, ‘what do you do now?’ You just have to kind of swallow your luck and go forward after that. I thought we did okay. Interesting to see how we did on the on the leaderboard, but we were OK, we loved it.”
John; “I loved the tests. That was the big fun thing for me, it’s a little hard on the car, I think, but we did pretty well on the tests. In terms of our P2P journey 2028, this is absolutely what we needed. I can't imagine even considering that event without this starting point it was so valuable.”
Ryck Turner and Angie Barber, 1928 Bentley 4 1/2, 7th in class
Angie; “It's been brilliant. There have been times over the weekend where it's been a challenge and a real test of all kinds of things, mainly ego. But what I think is it’s really wonderful, the objective has been achieved by the course in that the principles are embedded, and I now understand the system. I'm not sure I'm always going to get the system right, but from the navigator training perspective, I understand the system now, and it's been wonderful.”
Ryck: It’s a good start to the journey. I can cancel my gym membership now because I've hauled that bloody thing around the course and made many twenty point turns, the consequence of us getting it wrong and having to turn it around, the objective of the course was to get the basics of the navigation understood and get Angie comfortable with being in the car. I think that mission's been accomplished in space. So thank you to HERO-ERA who have done a great job, Andy and Andy and all the team.”